


Memory

by xXSharpieSnifferOo



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: A Happy Ending (sort of), Amnesia, Angst, Attempted Suicide, F/M, If beron and tamlin didnt bring back rhys, Major character death - Freeform, Memory Loss, Past Rape/Non-con, major angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-24 11:28:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30071568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xXSharpieSnifferOo/pseuds/xXSharpieSnifferOo
Summary: When Rhys falls, not all the High Lords try to bring him back, and thus, he dies.Feyre falls deeper and deeper into a spiral of self destruction, while the inner circle tries desperately to hold her, and the court, together.Two centuries after his death, however, the Inner Circle finds Rhys’ grave defaced and empty. After some searching, they find the High Lord himself: alive and well. But there is something very off about him...
Relationships: Feyre Archeron/Rhysand
Kudos: 17





	Memory

PREFACE   
This is the way it happened:

He was flying and flying and flying,  
And then he fell  
It was a battle after all, and not everyone is guaranteed a happy ending. 

She was desperate, of course, and she begged for their help. After all, she was living proof of the extent of their combined powers. 

And some of them took pity on her, some of them remembered old debts to repay, and some looked at his mangled body and saw a friend, if given more time.   
They took kernels of their power and dropped them into his chest, like they’d done to her, not at all that long ago.   
But it was only some, and not all. 

While some saw the potential for friendship, others saw potential threats of war, horror, and betrayal (as he and his court had grown known for). It was these few who did not offer anything. 

And without seven seeds, the ritual simply could not be complete.

So, what was dead would stay dead and what was dead must be buried. 

...

Funerals were supposed to be a place for tears and screaming and pain, of course, but also a place to say goodbye, to move on and forward. 

It should be remembered, however, that mates are a rare occurrence. A glorious one that brings much joy and much fulfillment to those involved—but where there is great potential for love, there is great potential for pain. 

For those lucky enough to have found their mate and unlucky enough to see them killed, moving on is not at all an easy task. 

And this is how, even centuries later her pain feels just as fresh, his absence just as harsh. This is how bottle after bottle piles up on the floor of their her row house, until the floor is made of glass shards and her feet are bloody and stripped raw. This is how she finds herself High Lady of a court she never wanted to rule alone, with only the efforts of her old friends keeping their citizens together. (Her friends were, after all, not at all unused to ruling the court). 

This is how she finds herself jumping from the House balcony on their anniversary, hoping to feel the ground below shatter her neck, collapse her lungs, rupture her spine, just as it did to him. All this, so she could feel a connection, a bond, to him one last time.

This is how each year, on their anniversary, her friends take turns catching her and bringing her home. It’s one thing to see their cousin, their brother die. It’s another to see their sister destroy herself over the span of two centuries. 

...

Five out of seven offerings was not enough. 

But what is not often recognized is that magic grows. Slowly, sure, but given enough time untouched...well, the change is noticeable. 

The change is enough. 

Five seeds were planted in a body and left buried deep under the earth. Five seeds eventually grow enough power to pass for seven.   
And two centuries later, a flicker of a mind stirs.


End file.
